Ish Wainright

Ishmail Carzell Wainright (born September 12, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Premier League and the EuroCup.

Wainright played two seasons for head coach Stu Vetter at Montrose Christian School in Rockville, Maryland, helping the team to 19–5 record as senior in 2012–13.

He began his prep career at Raytown South High School in suburban Kansas City, where he averaged 13.6 points and 9.8 rebounds as a sophomore in 2010–11.

[3] After finishing his career at Baylor, Wainright joined the Buffalo Bills of the NFL as an undrafted free agent, but he did not make the final roster.

On January 30, 2022, Wainright scored a then-season-high 10 points and put up two blocks in 20 minutes of action (including the entirety of the fourth quarter) in a 115–110 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

[13] On April 6, he surpassed his season bests with career highs of 20 points and 8 rebounds in a close loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

[18] On March 5 against the Dallas Mavericks, coach Monty Williams made a decision late in the third quarter to substitute starter Josh Okogie, who had missed all of his eight three-point attempts, with Wainright.

Although he had not played in the game up until that point, Wainwright made a significant impact, hitting four of his five three-point attempts, helping the Suns secure a 130–126 victory.

[21] Wainright made his debut with the Trail Blazers on November 14 in a loss to the Utah Jazz during the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament.

As an American born in Kansas City, Missouri, he was convinced by Uganda coaches George Galanopoulous and Mike Schmitz to become a naturalized Ugandan to help build the team and increase employment opportunities.

[25] Wainright scored 36 points and collected 13 rebounds in his national team debut in a win over Cape Verde in November 2020.

During his only season at Grand Canyon, Grant-Foster would win the WAC Player of the Year award and reach the All-WAC First Team in 2024,[35] as well as lead the university to their first ever victory in the NCAA tournament by defeating St. Mary's College.